The Art of Asking Great Questions for Your Podcast Interviews

As a podcast host, you can completely steer the direction of your show by asking the right questions. However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. The way you formulate questions, tone of voice and even non-verbal cues all play a major role in the way guests respond to them. Therefore, it’s critical for you to do a great job of asking questions that will elicit engaging responses.

Here are some guidelines for asking effective questions during your podcast interviews:

1. Do Your Homework

Carefully research your guests and prepare relevant questions for them. Find out why your guest is an expert in their field and think about how you can leverage that expertise to create valuable content for your audience.

2. Listen Carefully

If you listen carefully to what your guest is saying, you’ll be able to follow up on points they make, question their assumptions and provide insightful commentary. Good open-ended questions can help encourage guests to open up, while leading questions can result in less exciting responses.

3. Keep it Conversational

Ensure your guest feels comfortable so that they can have a great conversation with you. Don’t make it feel like an interrogation. A good rule of thumb is to think of your guest as a friend and keep the question flow natural.

4. Ask Questions That are Relevant to Your Audience

When thinking about what to ask your guests, it’s important that the questions are based around topics that are of interest to your audience. Ask questions that will be educational, informative, or entertaining for your listeners.

5. Use Follow-up Questions

Good follow-up questions show that you are truly listening to your guest and are interested in what they have to say. Follow-up questions can also help to clarify points made by your guest or delve deeper into certain topics so that the conversation stays engaging and relevant.

6. Be Creative

While it’s good to keep some standard questions for every interviewee, try to be creative and think outside the box. Surprise guests by asking them things they weren’t expecting, and which will therefore challenge them to think about things in a different way.

In Conclusion

The art of asking great questions for your podcast interviews comes down to careful planning, attentive listening, good follow-up, and the ability to think creatively. By implementing these practices, you’ll be well on your way to hosting great interviews that will engage and entertain your audiences, and help your podcast grow.